Plate-bolting-up machine



F. C. MOORE PLATE BOLTING-UP MACHINE Filed 1m. 29. 1924 2&5 I 3712 H 32 16 14 I M J5 Mai? f d, moo/e,

Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES FRED CUSHING MOORE, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

PLATE-BOLTING-UP MACHINE.

Application filed August 29, 1924.

This invention relates to improvements in plate bolting-up machines and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention relates to the type of machine by means of which plates, which are to be permanently bolted 0r riveted together, are drawn together and clamped at intervals by key bolts or the like which hold the plates in clamped relation until the are permanently bolted or riveted together at points in the neighborhood of the key bolts, after which said key bolts are removed and are replaced by permanent bolts or rivets.

Machines of the kind include an abutment member for engagement with the nearer plate of the two plates which are to be drawn together; a pull rod, movable longimember and at right angles to the planes of the plates to be drawn together; an actuating element for the pull rod, which may bea pair of toggles or other suitable mechanical elements which will efliciently operate the pull rod with respect to the abutment member; a power element to drive the actuat ing element; a gripping member on the pull rod; a key bolt which is adapted to be inserted through rivet? holes in the plates to be drawn together with its head engaged against the remote plate, the near end of said bolt being adapted to be gripped by the gripping member; and a wedge or other clamp ing device adapted to cooperate with the bolt to lock the plates in their contacting osition after they have been drawn together Ey the operation of the machine.

The invention has to do with cooperating members on the gripping device and the bolt and its object is to provide novel and improved features in these members which Will increase the efficiency of the gripping device; will prolong the life of the bolt and tudinally with reference to the abutment- Serial No. 734,869.

section through the parts of a plate boltingup machine of the kind referred to, located in the immediate neighborhood of the plates, with the gripping device engaged with the bolt ready to draw the plates together.

' Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, illustrating the plates drawn together and clamped in this position and-with the gripping device released from its engagement with the bolt. The plane of the section of the figure is at right angles to the plane of the sectionin Figure 2. V

Figure l is a view representing a transverse section through Figure 2, the plane being indicated by lines H in Figure 2.

The particular bolting-up device illustrated in the drawings is one in which the bolt, the pull rod and the gripping device are pneumatically operated as for example, shown in Patent N 0. 1, 17 9,712 granted Jai1 nary 1, 192 1, to F. N. Hallett. But the in; vention is in no way limited to a machine of this kind which is selected for purposes of illustration only.

Referring now to that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings: 10 indicates the plate-engaging end of the abutment member, the same in this case being in the form of a cylinder which is bifurcated toward its bottom end to provide slots 'or openings 11 through which the wedge asso-, ciated with the key bolt may be inserted when the plates are drawn together. 12in dicates the pull rod suitably mounted for vertical reciprocation within the abutment member. 13 indicates the gripping member, 14 the key bolt and 15, 16 respectively the remote and near plate.

p The key bolt has a body 17 which is preferably round and is of such diameter that it may be easily inserted through the rivet holes in the plates to be clamped together. At one end said bolt has a head 18 which is shown as, and is preferably, though not necessarily, integral with the bolt. The bolt is providedwith a transverse slot 19 which is such a distance from the head that a wedge 20 may be inserted therethrough to clamp the plates together in a familiar manner after said plates have been drawn into engagement by the machine, asil'lustrated in Figure 3.

The end of the bolt remote from the head and beyond the slot 19 is reducedin diam eter as indicated at 20 at a point near its end, where it 1s again enlarged to provlde an auxiliary head 21. Said head is of substantially the same diameter as the main body of the bolt 17, so that it may easily pass through the rivet holes.

The auxiliary head 21 is preferably rounded as shown; but the part of the head adjacent the reduced part 20 of the bolt provides a shoulder 22 to be engaged by the gripping device. Said shoulder, for a purpose that will presently be made clear, is preferably made at an angle which is approximately 15 degrees, with reference to the length of the bolt.

The gripping device comprises a cylinder 23 with a head 24 fixed to the end of the pull rod 12 and constructed in such a man her that it will slide with the pull rod within the abutment cylinder 10. 25 indicates a piston movable in the cylinder 23 and normally held in a position adjacent to the cylinder head 241- by coiled springs 26 which act between the lower face of said piston and an annular shoulder 27 in the bottom of the cylinder. Secured to the bottom of the piston 25 is a block or a plug 28 which carries clutch jaws 29 of familiar construction. Said clutch jaws are supported on the block by laterally extending pins 29 and by oppositely acting springs 30 and 31 are caused normally to assume an open position as illustrated in Figure 3. The lower, outer ends of the jaws and the inner edge of the end of the cylinder 23 are formed at an angle to the vertical in such manner as to co-act when the piston head 25 is moved downwardly to force the jaws inwardly to grip the end of the bolt, as in the Hallett patent hereinbefore referred to.

There are, as shown in the drawings, three of the jaws 29, which are segments of a cylinder and which are so proportioned that when in the gripping relation they will be brought closely together as illustrated in Figure 4c- The bottom ends of the jaws are each provided with a grip 32 which projects inwardly to engage the reduced part 20 of the bolt and formed at the top at an angle substantially the same as the angle of the shoulder 22 on the bolt, namely, approximately 45 degrees.

The operation of the gripping device is as follows: The bolt is inserted through the rivet holes in the remote plate and the rivet holes in the near plate to bring it into position within the abutment cylinder 10, which has been previously placed in position. The gripping device with its jaws and grips is then in the position with reference to the auxiliary head 21 of the bolt, substantially as shown in Figure 3, (but without the wedge 20 and with the bolt and plates as illustrated in Figure 2). The pneumatic fluid is then introduced through the tubular pull rod 12 into the cylinder 13 of the gripping device, thus forcing the piston 25 downwardly towards the bolt; This bringsabout the engagement of the jaws 29 with the inwardly inclined end of the cylinder 23 which forces the jaws inwardly to bring the grips 32 into engagement with the reduced part 20 of the bolt below the angular shoulder 22, which forms the base of the auxiliary head 21. be device is then operated to move the pull rod 12 upwardly. This moves the gripping de vice also upwardly until the inclined part 32 of the grip of the jaws comes to engagement with the shoulder 22 on the bolt, whereupon in the remaining operation of the pull rod, the plates are drawn together in a familiar manner. When they have been finally brought to contact, the wedge 20 is driven into the slot 19 to clamp the plates together. The pneumatic pressure against the piston 25 is then released whereupon the spring 26 forces the cylinder head up into the position shown in Figure 3, thereby permitting the lower ends of the jaws to spread apart to release the grips 32 from their engagement with the bolt in the usual manner. 7

The aws 29 should and in many cases do release the bolt in the manner described so that the boltingup machine may be easily disengaged; but in other cases and particularly when the machine is operated with the abutment member and pull rod in a horizontal position, one or more of the jaws, as for example, those on the upperside of the horizontal bolt, will stick or tend to stick 113K) in its engaged position, with the grip 32 engaged against the shoulder of the auxiliary head 21. As a result, difficulty in prior construction was encountered in disengaging the gripping device from the bolt. By forming the shoulder 22 on the auxiliary bolt head at an angle of approximately 45 degrees and the upper engaging part of the grip 32 of the aw at a like angle, the jaw is forced outwardly by the 'co-acting engagement of the grip and the inclined shoulder of the auxiliary head when the machine is pulled away from the bolt, even when it tends to stick in the position en-V gaged with the auxiliary bolt head. Thus, the disengagement of the jaws from the bolt is greatly facilitated.

lVhile I have given the angle of the shoulder on the auxiliary bolt and the corresponding part on the grip as approximating 45 degrees, it will be understood, this is only given as the best angle and that the invention is'not to be limited to that exact angle.

By means of the construction of the bolt and of the grips on the gripping jaws, the life of the key bolt will be greatly lengthened since the gripping jaws will efficiently and securely grip the auxiliary head of the key bolt without any tendency to chew or mar the end of the bolt which is gripped, which has been one of the main things to shorten the life of such bolts in apparatus of the kind heretofore used. Thus, the bolts of the kind described may be used over and over again without undue wear, with the result that the expense of the use of a bolting-up machine of the kind is greatly reduced.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine of the class described the combination comprising a gripping device having gripping jaws, a bolt having a body with a head at one end, the body being re duced near the other end and having an auxiliary head at said last named end, which is of substantially the same diameter as the body, the base of said auxiliary head being formed to provide a shoulder inclined at an angle less than a. right angle to the length of the bolt, and the gripping jaws being provided with grips formed to engage the reduced part of the bolt body, having similarly inclined parts adapted to automatically engage with the inclined shoulder at the base of said auxiliary head, and means for causing the jaws to grip the bolt.

2. In a machine of the class described the combination comprising a gripping device having gripping jaws, a bolt having a body with a head at one end, the body being reduced near the other end and having an auxiliary head at said last named end,

which is of substantially the same diameter as the body, the base of said auxiliary head being'formed to provide a shoulder extending at an angle of substantially 45 degrees to the length of the bolt, and the gripping jaws'being provided with grips formed to engage the reduced part of the bolt body, having inclined parts adapted to automatically engage with the inclined shoulder at the base of said auxiliary head, and means for causing the jaws to grip the bolt.

3. A key bolt for machines of the class described, consisting of a body provided with a head at one end, said body being reduced in diameter in all directions near the other end, and being provided at said last named end with an auxiliary head which is of substantially the same diameter as the body.

4. A key bolt for machines of the class described, consisting of a body having a head at one end, saidbody being reduced near its other end, and being provided at said last named end with an auxiliary head of substantially the same diameter as the body, said auxiliary head having a base which presents a shoulder adjacent the reduced part of the bolt which extends at an angle of substantially 45 degrees to the length of the bolt.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I afiix my signaturethis 23 day of August, A. D., 1924.

FRED CUSHING MOORE. 

